Gracious Closure
by Elise Lowing
Summary: Lisanna wants to clear the air on her relationship with Natsu. Although time has changed them both and they have moved on, they still remain friends.


**I mostly wrote this fan fiction to clarify my views on the fandom shipping war between Nalu (Natsu and Lucy) and Nali (Natsu and Lisanna). I say "fandom shipping" because of my reasons listed below.**

 **First off, I like Lisanna. I think she is a great character and I was really happy for Mirajane and Elfman when they got their little sister back. Especially for Elfman, as he no longer had to live with the guilt of "killing" Lisanna by mistake. Also, Lisanna is a very kind person who cares for her family and everyone in the guild.**

 **Secondly, I support Natsu and Lucy as a romantic couple. However, I support Natsu and Lisanna as a childhood crush. However, now that they are older, I get the feeling they have more of a sibling-like relationship. Because if you look at the time between when Lisanna came back from Edolas up the current story arc, Natsu and Lisanna don't really interact very much. Now, that doesn't mean they don't care for each other, they just haven't had a lot of opportunities to do things together.**

 **Thirdly, I don't see a love triangle between Natsu, Lucy, and Lisanna going on. Lisanna isn't playing the stereotype of a jealous girl who sees Lucy as a love rival if the latter so much as talks to Natsu. In fact, she doesn't show any jealously whatsoever. And even with that moment in the Grand Magic Games with the wedding outfits, Lisanna didn't get all pouty when Lucy crashed into Natsu. In fact, quite the opposite. She smiled at it. So as far as I can tell, Lisanna is okay with Natsu ending up with Lucy.**

 **So I think the whole Nalu and Nali shipping war is unnecessary. Not to mention, all the hate on Lisanna because of her relationship with Natsu is rather uncalled for. I think it would be more credible if Lisanna WAS the stereotype jealous girl, but she's not. So I really don't think she should be hated for that reason.**

 **As a result, I decided to write this little fan fiction. It takes place before the invasion of the Alverez Empire, and before Natsu and Happy go to Lucy's house.**

* * *

 **Gracious Closure**

"Hey Natsu, can I talk to you for a moment?"

The pink-haired boy looked over at the snowy-white hand that had taken a gentle hold of his shoulder, keeping him from leaving the guildhall. His gazed followed down the arm and right to the owner.

"Lisanna?" he said, surprised. "Something wrong?"

"No," Lisanna replied, shaking her head. "It's nothing major, I just…wanted to talk to you about something while there's…still time."

Natsu lowered his eyebrows. He knew she was talking about the impending war that was looming over the whole guild like a dark cloud. Since they would be facing off against Zeref himself, Natsu could only guess that Lisanna wanted to talk to him while they still had those precious quiet moments.

"Sure, I guess," he said, giving a shrug.

Natsu turned and was about follow Lisanna when she looked past him. He followed his gaze and saw that she was staring at Happy. The little blue Exceed saw it as well and stopped with confusion.

"Um," Lisanna said uneasily, "I don't mean to be rude Happy, but…I wanted to speak with Natsu in private."

Happy blinked and looked back and forth between Natsu and Lisanna. Then, much to the white-haired girl's embarrassment, he gave a sly smirk.

"Sure thing," he winked mischievously. "I'll just be waiting down here for ya, Natsu. Good luck."

Natsu cocked his head to the side in curiosity. What did Happy mean by that?

After the blue cat flew off to talk to Carla and Wendy, Natsu followed Lisanna through the guildhall and to the stairs that would take them both up to the rooftop. All the while, he kept wondering about what it could be that Lisanna wanted to talk to him about. And why did she want to speak to him privately? Was is really something that important that she wanted to be alone with him when she said it?

About halfway up the stair case, a thought crashed into his head so hard that it made his heart jump in shock and his eyes widen.

Did this have something to do with the crush between the the two of them when they were kids?

A horrible churn of worry in his stomach told him that it was. What else could it be? It would certainly explain why Happy looked at Natsu the way he did.

After all, Lisanna had always teased Natsu about the two of them getting married when they were younger, even after they had grown into their teens. He also remembered that stupid wedding attire event at the Grand Magic Games.

Feeling the dread of what was coming, he also felt that his innards had drop into a giant splash inside his belly.

Natsu was fearless when it came to a lot of things. He could stand up and face a mountain-sized monster without so much as flinching and have a cocky grin on his face the whole time. Battles and fights didn't scare him in the least. But when it came to his own feelings, particularly the romantic kind, just the idea of talking about them was enough to make him want to run for the hills.

But of course, he couldn't run away from emotions, they were forever implanted in him just as much as they were in every single living human. And there were times when he cursed himself for having such ridiculous thoughts of romance pop into his head. It didn't feel like him.

Unfortunately, he had a nasty feeling he was going to be confronted with them now.

 _"_ _Oh crap,"_ Natsu's mind moaned. _"What am I going to do? Ugh, I guess I have not choice but to suck it up and face it like the man I am now. But if she brings up the husband and wife subject, I'm out."_

Natsu quickly put on a natural face to hide his insecurity as he and Lisanna finally came out onto the roof. They were both greeted by the warm rays of the summer sun shining high above them. The two of them then walked up to the railing and looked out over the city of Magnolia. Now that all of the citizens had been evacuated, there was an eerie silence that rang throughout every corner. The only interruption that came from the empty streets was a breeze sweeping through.

It was just another reminder of what was to come.

"Natsu." Lisanna said, breaking the silence.

Natsu looked over at the girl beside him and involuntarily gripped the railing hard.

"Yeah?" he asked, keeping his voice natural.

Lisanna took deep breath before saying, "Listen. I called you up here because I wanted to talk to you about something…important."

Natsu swallowed hard. So far, his theory was coming true.

Lisanna continued, her eyes cast downward.

"Do you remember when we were kids and I used to tease you about us getting married?"

 _"Oh Mavis!"_ Natsu's mind groaned and his face changed to a rare expression of distress. _"She DID bring that up!"_

Despite what he thought before about running away, his feet stayed planted firm to the ground beneath him. That didn't stop him from becoming fidgety though.

Lisanna didn't seem to have notice. Or if she did, she didn't react to it. She just kept looking down at the railing, her face hidden by white hair and shadow.

"The thing is," she said slowly, "I couldn't help but notice that…well, what I mean is…you seem to be really close to Lucy. I mean, you two have spent a lot of time together and you seem so comfortable around her. If I could so bold, I would say that you had…well…special feelings towards her."

Natsu jolted at that remark and his face turned from paper white to blood scarlet. His heart began to pound so hard inside of him that he could both feel and see his chest thumping up and down from the force of it. By the way he jolted, one would think he got sucker-punched in the stomach by some invisible ghost.

He wasn't prepared for that. He didn't expect Lisanna would bring up Lucy. He already knew that people in the guild had been gossiping about the Dragon Slayer and Celestial Wizard being a couple, but it never really caught his attention. That is until now. And the fact that it was brought up by someone who he knew had crush on him in the past…

Oh Mavis, was he caught in some kind of love-triangle? If that was the case, then he was going to die, if not by Lisanna than of agonizing embarrassment.

Because the truth was…he did have special feelings for Lucy. He couldn't explain how or why they came about, but they did, and he had a love and hate relationship with them.

Still, given the situation he was in, he knew had to at least try to explain himself.

"Lisanna, listen!" he said quickly, very flustered. "It's not what you think! It's just…well, I…uh…!"

For some reason, Natsu's voice failed him and he was starting to sound like some stuttering halfwit who couldn't comprehend his own language.

Yet another reason why he hated romantic feelings! They made a tough guy like him into a complete and utter idiot!

 _"Gosh, darn it!"_ his mind yelled in frustration. _"Work, you stupid voice! Pull yourself together, Natsu!"_

However, what Lisanna did next shut him up, but not in a bad way.

She turned her head to look at him straight in the eye and gave a soft smile. Her blue eyes shined with graciousness.

"It's okay, I understand," she said.

Upon hearing that, Natsu closed his mouth and looked at her with bewilderment. What could she have possibly meant by that?

"I didn't bring you up here to tell you I'm jealous." Lisanna explained. "I wanted to tell you that I'm happy for you."

The redness was slowly starting to fade from Natsu's cheeks and he was getting natural skin color back in his face.

"Uh, why?" was the only question he could ask.

"Well," Lisanna replied with kindness in her voice, "I know you and I were close when we were young. But I think you and I can admit that at the end of the day, the whole "marriage" aspect was one-sided on my end. After all, we were both kids and didn't completely understand it all back then. I know that may sound cliché, but it is true, right?"

Natsu didn't say anything, he just looked down to the floor on his left.

Lisanna continued.

"I know you made that gravestone for me by our little playhouse when you and everyone thought I was dead, and I still think that was a very touching thing you did. But – correct me if I'm wrong – I think the main thing that hurt you was that you couldn't keep a promise you made to me. And that you weren't there to help me. I know how much your friends mean to you. And honestly, I would've felt the same if it was the other way around."

Natsu finally found his voice again.

"Lisanna," he said in low tone, feeling just little self-conscious, "it's not that I didn't care about you back then. I did care about you, and I still do. And for a while, it did kill me to think of you being gone forever. It…took a while before I could genuinely smile again."

"But you moved on eventually." Lisanna pointed out. "And that's what makes me proud of you. I'm not sure how I would've felt if you had stayed in a miserable state like that because of me. I suppose at first I would've found it touching that you cared so much, but then I would've been disappointed. A strong man would've picked himself up and move on after he mourned over the loss of loved one. If you hadn't, I don't think I would've thought of you as strong as I once did. If anything, I would've felt worse knowing that I had caused you to suffer for so long. But you proved that you are strong. That alone makes me happy."

Natsu then gave a small, humble smile.

"I guess you moved on, too," he said.

Lisanna looked away and a small blush came over her cheeks.

"I did have feelings for you," she admitted. "But I can admit that it was just a childhood crush. And after being away for two years in Edolas, I realized that it was my brother and sister that I cared about the most."

Lisanna then turned to face Natsu and placed her delicate hand on his strong shoulder, making him look her straight in the eye.

"But don't think that means I still don't treasure our friendship," she said with sincerity and smiled. "The days you and I spent together when we were kids were some of the happiest days of my life. You were the first close friend I ever had, and that's something that will never change. You will always have a special place in my heart."

Natsu blinked.

"I'm sorry if I made things awkward for a moment," the white-haired girl said, "but I just wanted to clear the air on the subject for both our sakes. I also want you to know that no matter what happens, I will always follow you into battle."

For a moment, the two friends just stared at each other in silence.

Finally, a relieved smile came across Natsu's face and he released the tension in his body. The huge weight that had been crushing his insides moments ago had now disappeared and he found it easier to breathe again. It was more than refreshing to realize that Lisanna wasn't jealous or that she was trying to catch him in some love triangle.

She understood that he had changed over time, and she accepted it with grace.

"Well, that's good to know," he said, giving a nervous chuckle.

Lisanna replied with a small giggle.

"Just promise that you'll tell her soon," she said right after.

"Huh?" Natsu replied, slightly startled.

"Promise that you'll confess to Lucy about how you feel about her soon." Lisanna clarified. "But don't promise me. Promise yourself that you'll tell her."

Natsu looked away awkwardly, his heart beginning to race again. He knew from past experience that Lucy was kind of touchy on the subject of romantic relationships. And like him, he could sense that those kind of feelings made her uncomfortable as well.

Then again, that was a year ago. Maybe it was different now. At least he hoped it was.

"I'm not sure how she'll react to that," he grumbled. "All I can do is hope she won't reject me."

"She won't." Lisanna replied reassuringly. "I know she won't."

Natsu then looked at the girl in front of him and grinned.

"You're a romantic at heart, aren't you?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose I am." Lisanna replied innocently.

"Alright," Natsu nodded with conviction. "I'll tell her after the war." He then winked. "It'll give me another reason to win this and come back alive."

Lisanna smiled and nodded. She then hoisted herself up to hug her friend around the neck. Natsu simply returned the gesture with a hug of his own. The embrace they shared was more of the ones that two siblings would have. And both of them felt a sense of comfort from it.

They were still friends, and part of the same Fairy Tail family.

After they both pulled away, Natsu gave on finally nod of acknowledgement and turned to head back to the stairs. But before he began his way down them, he stopped.

"Hey, Lisanna," he said.

"Yeah?"

Natsu looked over his shoulder and grinned.

"Thanks."

Lisanna graciously nodded back, "You're welcome."

With that, Natsu walked back down the stairs, his footsteps slowly fading with the echoes.

Lisanna stayed on the rooftop and looked out over the city again. She felt completely fine now that she had gotten all of that off her chest. At least now Natsu knew where she stood in their relationship. And she was glad that he also knew that she was fine with him choosing for Lucy instead of her.

After all, Natsu might have been Lisanna's first love, but she knew that Lucy was Natsu's first and true love.

In the end, both Natsu and Lisanna got some closure, and they still remained friends. That was good enough for her.

Lisanna would always be Natsu's friend; a comrade in arms; a sister in his Fairy Tail family. And with the war approaching soon, she was going to need all her strength if she was going to stand alongside him, her brother and sister, and their Fairy Tail family.

"No matter what happens," she whispered, "I will always follow you into battle, my friend."

 **THE END**

* * *

 **And with that, the story is done.**

 **I'll admit it took me a while to figure out how this would go down. Mostly because I knew what the characters wanted to say, but I was having a hard time putting the story together. In the end, this is what I got.**

 **Man, I hope I didn't make Natsu out of character. I don't know, he just seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't like to talk about feelings. He can talk people through their emotions, but is self-conscious when it comes to his own. So when he is confronted with his feelings, he gets a little disoriented. I admit, that was fun to do. Natsu's so cute when he's embarrassed.**

 **As for Lisanna, she was pretty fun to write, mostly because she was a calming force. We need more characters like that.**

 **Anyway, that's all I've got. I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Have a Good Day!**


End file.
